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Thursday, November 15, 2012

Races of Kickassistan: The Dwarves

Step One: Fill with Dwarves

The Dwarves

Humans
could not have accomplished their victory over the Elder Races without
the assistance of the dwarves, of this there can be no doubt. It is
possible, however, that the bondage in which the Elder Races held Man
might not have been so severe -- nor the Elder Races’ fear of Mankind’s
potential not been as great -- had it not been for the dwarves and their
revolt, a revolt which predates Man’s by at least a millennium. First
enslaved by an Elder Race whose name and aspect is lost to time, the
dwarves were bound to work beneath the earth, to shape stone, to wrench
ores from the bowels of the world, to shape metal into fine wares both
decorative and deadly. While plumbing the depths beneath the world’s
surface, the dwarves uncovered ancient ruins and attendant technologies
belonging to peoples even older than the Elder Races. The dwarves kept
the secret of their discoveries from the Elders, learning to use them
far from prying eyes; not every device led to breakthroughs, but those
that did ended up advancing dwarven artifice by thousands of years.
Ultimately developing advanced sciences and devices of their own, the
dwarves managed to free themselves from the Elder Races, but set up a
tenuous trade relationship with them, one that would fail in later years
as the dwarves aided the humans in their own rebellion. While dwarven
artifice today is mostly focused on the manufacture of mundane weapons
and armors as well as fine art objects and jewelry, rumors persist of
dwarven machines, far below the surface, that surpass anything known on
the surface world. The most persistent of these rumors speak of Soul
Engines, colossal machines that “reforge” the souls of dead dwarves into
the bodies of specially-built automata that advanced magics
transmogrify into living dwarves.

Dwarven Adventurers

Step Two: Blast this on the 8-track deck

Dwarves
pride themselves on their work: miners prize their best ore finds,
smiths their finest goods, machinists their greatest inventions and
warriors their most difficult kills. Dwarven adventurers are those
dwarves who couldn’t find a source of pride within their community, so
they go looking for it without. Fiercely independent and notoriously
stubborn, dwarves will readily leave their homes in pursuit of their
chosen profession; dwarven clans know better than to try to interfere,
instead letting their more adventurous youths seek their glory in the
world. Materialists to a fault, dwarven adventurers accumulate the best
gear they can find and keep it in the best condition they can manage;
they would lament the scratches and mars their arms and armor receive if
those mars didn’t mean that the dwarves got to polish and hone them all
over again.

The way I see it, the dwarves of Kickassistan are the my Uncle Pat's native people: eternally tinkering with some favorite piece of craftsmanship (muscle cars, motorcycles, armor, weapons, etc.) while blaring Led Zeppelin and Sabbath from the quadraphonic stereo in the garage. Afterwards (or maybe even during), it's a beer and a smoke and a quick "field test." Then, back to the drawing board for the next bit of technical innovation...